Digital Health in APAC: An Overview (Keren Priyadarshini, Microsoft Asia)

Looking at digital health investments in the APAC region, according to Galen Growth Asia, in 2021 China took the highest amount of funding (58.6%) for digital health, followed by India (22.3%), Australia (5.6%), Soth Korea (4.3%), and Singapore (3.8%). Healthcare expenditure differs a lot among countries: According to the World Bank, China attributed 5,3% of its GDP to healthcare, India 3%, Australia 9.91 %, and Singapore 4%. How do these healthcare systems differ and does healthcare expenditure relate to investment in digitalization?

In a series of discussions in June 2022, we explored the optics of healthcare in a few countries in the APAC region.

Healthcare in Malaysia was presented by dr. Selina Chew, Founder of Medic Footprints Malaysia. You can listen to a reflection on healthcare digitalization in Australia by the host of Talking HealthTech Peter Birch, and will be able to listen to the episode about healthcare digitalization in Pakistan with Zahid Ali, TOP 50 Digital Health Leader of 2021. Dr. Keren Priyadarshini, Regional Business Lead of Worldwide Health for Microsoft Asia, who leads the company’s healthcare business segment across 17 markets in Asia Pacific, reflected on the regional development of digital health and how investments could impact digital health development in different countries.

Comparison of a few countries in the APAC region based on their healthcare expenditure, life expectancy and population growth

The APAC region is very diverse in all possible meanings: the culture, development, and size of countries and the way healthcare systems are designed. “Australia has a completely publicly funded healthcare system. In Japan the government requires you to have health insurance, but healthcare services are provided by private healthcare providers. Then you have countries like India, where you need to get yourself covered through private insurance. Singapore has a completely different model with co-pays for healthcare. The patient pays a small portion, but the government subsidizes a massive portion,” says dr. Keren Priyadarshini. The specific of Singapore is also a compulsory medical savings account with which residents pay for inpatient care and selected outpatient services.

In the episode about the overview of healthcare digitalization in the APAC region dr. Keren Priyadarshini comments on the reasons for different ratios of nurses and doctors in different countries, the rise of telemedicine, AI development and its potential, the rise of genetic profiling, and more.

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